How to Pitch a Press Release

My name is Monica Rosenfeld and I’m the founder of WordStorm PR. Last week’s video was all about how to write a press release that will get cut through with the journalists. So in this week’s video I’m going to tell you how to pitch that press release so that the journalist actually reads it. So the pitch is in the form of an email and you’ve got about five seconds or less to capture the journalist’s attention.

The most important part of that pitch is the subject line because that will make or break whether the journo deletes it or continues. In the subject line, You should write potential story ideas for and then name the media outlet and then the heading or the title of your press release. In the body of the press release, make sure you address the journalist by name and let them know that you’ve got a great story idea that their audience will get value from. Take out the key points of the press release but it really should be no more than three maximum four lines and then at the bottom of the press release you can say that more information is available in the press release attached. It’s a really good idea to also included a good low res image relating to the angle that you’re pitching within the body of the press release.

Now, it’s really important to follow up that e-mail pitch. When we do a pitch we get some response back from journalists but then when we follow up four or five days later we get 50 percent or more response. So in the follow up pitch you should write in the subject line ‘follow up pitch for’ and then the media outlet and again the heading of your press release. In the body of the e-mail, again make sure you’re addressing the name of the journalist and get really succinct and to the point about what the angle of the press release is. I would suggest with this email do dot points of the key points. Again include your low res image because that just helps make it visually appealing.

At the bottom of the email just say you know if they want more information or if they want to line up an interview they can contact you and put your contact details.

Pitch this out with the press release attached and good luck with it. See you next week.